Rise of Chaos
by Aqualover5711
Summary: A dangerous new quest for the Anubis students begins on Jerome's 16th birthday at the start of the new term. It all starts when he seemingly falls severely ill on the morning of his birthday much to everyone's dismay. Little do they know that this is only the beginning of their greatest adventure yet. Full summary inside.
1. House of Nightmares & House of Illness

Full Summary:A dangerous new quest for the Anubis students begins on Jerome's 16th birthday at the start of the new term. It all starts when he seemingly falls severely ill on the morning of his birthday much to everyone's dismay. Little do they know that this is only the beginning of their greatest adventure yet. Strange things start to happen once more at Anubis house, with Jerome at the center of the mystery. Sibuna is on the case and have to figure out just what is happening with Jerome in order to save the world from a great evil that is about to be unleashed.

**Author's Note: Welcome to my first House of Anubis fanfic! I'm working on a huge HoA project with my beta and best friend Desertfox511 but it will be a while before we can get it up, so in the meantime this idea popped into my head and kind of acts as a side story for our bigger story. As you may have guessed from the summary it is Jerome-centric as he is my favorite character. He becomes an official member of Sibuna eventually because I always wanted him to be one in the show. The Sibuna gang will have a big part and others will be in it too and there may be some Jara moments later as well. This takes place after the events of Season 2 but it's completely AU. Nina never left and Sibuna has its original members. Please note that I have not seen all of Season 3 and this isn't related to it in any way. Please no spoilers in your reviews. I'll stop talking now and just let you read the story. Enjoy! :)**

It was a few days after the new term had started at the House of Anubis and it was early morning on Jerome's 16th birthday. Everyone was sleeping soundly in their beds except for one.

Jerome was tossing and turning as strange dreams plagued his subconscious.

_Jerome stood in the middle of a field, shielding his eyes from the blazing sun. He looked up as the cry of a falcon rang out across the clear blue sky. He spotted the dark shape of the small bird of prey circling above him._

_A warm breeze kicked up and blew gently all around him, carrying whispers of voices to his ears, though he could only catch bits and pieces of what they were saying._

"_Child of the Sky…. find them…. the power awakens in you… stop the Chaos…. the dark side of the moon will be revealed and destruction will befall anything that catches the Serpent's eyes…."_

_Everything suddenly darkened and Jerome's eyes widened as he saw that it was now night in his dream and a blood red moon was hanging in the sky. He took a step back as shadows darted in out of view around him. The voices became more urgent, but he could no longer make out what they were saying._

_He looked around for the source of the voices. "Who's there? What are you talking about?" he called, a slight hint of nervousness in his tone. Why did this dream feel so real? Why were these voices bothering him instead of Nina and her gang? This seemed like a mess they would be involved in. _

"_FIND THEM! CHAOS IS STIRRING! EVIL WILL NOT WAIT!" the voices rang loudly in his mind. _

_Then he was falling. Darkness swallowed his vision and he could no longer tell which way was up. He sucked in a sharp breath as a huge pair of reptilian amber eyes appeared in the inky black void, gazing right at him. There was a low hiss and two gleaming white fangs as long as his arms flashed towards him, a strangled cry of alarm escaping from his lips as he was jolted from the dream._

* * *

A few hours later, at 8:00 in the morning, Alfie awoke as per usual on a school day to head to breakfast. He sat up in his bed and rubbed at his eyes, yawning widely. He remembered that today was Jerome's birthday and he grinned as he thought about various ideas for a present to get for him after school. Soft whimpering sounds met his ears and his smile faded a bit, peering across the room at the bed occupied by his best friend. His eyes opened wide and all traces of post-waking sleepiness vanished instantly at what he saw.

Jerome was shivering violently under his covers, and he appeared to be trapped in a bad nightmare. His eyes were squeezed shut and he was groaning under his breath. He was even paler than usual and there was a light sheen of cold sweat on his forehead.

Alfie leaped from his bed and ran over to Jerome's, putting a hand on his shoulder and shaking lightly. "Jerome, buddy, it's just a dream. You're in your room and it's your birthday!" Alfie exclaimed, trying to comfort him with his cheery tone, but it came out a bit strained. Alfie furrowed his brows in concern as he received no response from Jerome other than a few mumbled words he couldn't make out. He shook him a bit harder. "Snap out of it! I've had plenty of bad dreams about all the crazy stuff that's been happening around here… I'm sure most of us have… just wake up now Jerome." he rambled in his concern.

Alfie let out a relieved sigh as Jerome blinked open his eyes, but his relief was short-lived. Jerome gazed up at Alfie, but his normally sharp, clear blue eyes were glassy and distant, his friend's form blurred around the edges. "Alfie…" he murmured, trying to push himself up to a sitting position but failing due to the trembling in his arms. He collapsed back onto his pillow with a grunt of frustration, his eyes falling shut again. He felt so tired and he just wanted to sleep more. He idly wondered why that was. He was normally wide awake and eager for breakfast at this time. He continued to lay there shivering, pulling the covers tighter around himself and curling up on his side. "Go away Alfie… trying to sleep…." he said groggily, his words slurred somewhat.

Alfie looked around, trying not to panic. "Oh no… um… Trudy… yeah, she'll know what to do…" Alfie said to himself. He took one last look at Jerome before bolting out of the room towards the kitchen.

**I'm not quite sure how I feel about this chapter, but it was just a little opening scene to kick things off. I think I liked the dream part though. If you've ever had a high fever then you'll understand about how Jerome feels right now. Well, I posted the next chapter too and things will start to heat up so I hope you'll give the story and a chance and keep reading. This is only the setup to the rest of the plot. He won't stay sick the whole time. That's not what the story is about heh heh…**

**Please review because they encourage me to keep writing :). **


	2. House of Fever & House of Visions

**Author's Note: Here is the next chapter, as promised! It's a long one but I hope that's alright.**

The students of Anubis house were all gathered around the table for an extra-special breakfast that Trudy was preparing in the kitchen in honor of Jerome's birthday. She was humming as she finished preparing scrambled eggs just the way he liked them while the students sipped their drinks and chatted animatedly to each other.

They all looked up as Alfie came bolting into the room. Trudy beamed at him as she strolled into the dining room. "Oh, Alfie there you are! Where's the birthday boy? I made his favorite chocolate chip pancakes!" Trudy exclaimed in her usual cheery manner.

"Guys, I think Jerome's sick! I woke up and he wasn't looking so good… I don't know what to do!" Alfie said quickly, his eyes darting around as he bounced up and down nervously.

Mara gasped, Nina and Fabian exchanged concerned glances, Patricia and Eddie both looked a bit skeptical, Joy gave him a sympathetic look, and Amber got up and gave Alfie a hug. "Oh Alfie, I'm sure it's alright. Trudy made pancakes. That'll make Jerome feel better." Amber tried to reassure him, smiling at him in her sweet and ditzy way. Alfie's lips twitched into a faint smile, though he didn't look convinced.

Trudy put a hand over her heart as she set down the plates of food she had been holding. "Oh my! Stay calm everyone and Alfie do try to relax dear. Let's go take a look and I'll see what I can do to make things better." she said, trying to keep her voice calm and soothing. She shuffled out of the room with Alfie darting right after her and Amber and the others all following close behind.

They all entered Alfie and Jerome's room and froze as they gazed at Jerome with worried eyes. In the few minutes that Alfie had been gone getting Trudy, his condition seemed to have worsened, though he was conscious. He had kicked off his blankets and his shivering had ceased, but his eyes were unfocused as he stared up at the ceiling after having turned over onto his back. He didn't even seem to be aware of the presence of all of his friends in his room. Trudy walked over to the bed and Mara and Alfie followed, Alfie hovering behind them, trying to peer over Mara's shoulder.

Mara crouched down beside the bed and took one of Jerome's hands in her own. "Jerome? It's Mara. You'll be alright. Trudy is here to check what's wrong and then we can get you something to make you feel better." she said softly, her voice kind and gentle. She smiled encouragingly as Jerome's eyes shifted to her briefly before returning to the ceiling.

Trudy put a hand on his forehead and stifled a gasp. "Oh dear… he's burning up. I'll go get the thermometer." she murmured.

When she left, the others came up and patted Alfie and Mara to show their support. "I don't think pancakes will help a fever." Amber announced, receiving a half-hearted glare from Patricia.

"No, but some rest and medicine will. Jerome will be fine Alfie." Nina told him, keeping her voice steady to placate him.

Fabian and Eddie both nodded in agreement with Nina.

Alfie tried his best to relax as Trudy had suggested. "Yeah… yeah, you're right. Thanks guys."

"I feel sorry for him. No one should have to be sick on their birthday." Amber said. "Amber…" Nina scolded quietly, giving her a stern look. Amber just gave a sheepish smile and kept quiet.

Trudy returned then with the thermometer and the others moved back to give her some space. She sat on the edge of the bed next to Jerome. "Sweetheart, I'm just going to take your temperature okay? Then you can sleep this off and feel better in time for presents this evening." she said lightly, covering up her motherly concern by trying to stay positive. Jerome just let out a sigh in response and allowed her to put the thermometer in his mouth under his tongue. Mara stayed by his side and stroked her thumb lightly across the back of his cold hand.

A few seconds later Trudy removed the thermometer, paling at the display.

Alfie began to go into panic mode again. "Trudy, what's wrong? How bad is it? Will he be okay? Please tell me he will." he pleaded, Nina and Amber gently holding him back and whispering to him to calm down.

Trudy frowned and ruffled Jerome's blonde hair in sympathy. "I think so but we definitely have to get him cooled down. He's running a bad fever. It says 40 degrees (Celsius; 104 Fahrenheit). I think it might be best if we let the hospital take a look at him just in case." she told them grimly.

Mara covered her mouth with her free hand and squeezed Jerome's hand. Then she turned to the others, taking charge. "Joy, go call an ambulance. Patricia, can you go get a few ice packs? We should try to lower his temperature until the paramedics get here." she suggested. Joy and Patricia nodded and ran out of the room to carry out her requests, Eddie glancing at Jerome and then following after Patricia.

Alfie sat down on his bed and put his head in his hands, the remaining Sibuna members sitting next to him to show they cared by being there for him. No words were needed.

* * *

They did their best to lower Jerome's temperature with the ice packs as he fell into an exhausted sleep, but their efforts didn't do much good. His fever stubbornly refused to go down, but at least it got no worse. The ambulance arrived and they carried him out on a gurney, Trudy going with him to the hospital.

The Anubis students wanted to go as well, but Victor came down and ordered them to get to school. They tried to protest but he wasn't hearing it.

"Only one of you may miss school to go to the hospital. Work it out between yourselves." Victor commanded gruffly.

Alfie looked at them all with wide, pleading eyes and everyone readily agreed that he should be the one to stay with his best friend. Alfie quickly ran after Trudy to go with her and Jerome.

"Very well, off to school with you lot." Victor grumbled, shooing them with a wave of his hand.

They sighed and muttered various complaints about Victor as they all headed off to school reluctantly.

Joy caught up with Mara as they walked along the path to school and put an arm around her shoulder. "I know you're worried Mara. You and Jerome are an item now right?" she asked.

Mara took a shaky breath and nodded. "I guess you could say that. I'm fine really. Um, I'm going to go text Jerome's father and Poppy. They'll probably want to go and visit him." she replied quickly, smiling at Joy before pulling out her phone and walking off. She would get through this day of school and then she would go to the hospital straight afterwards.

**Meanwhile…**

Alfie sat in a chair next to Trudy in Jerome's room as Jerome slept on the hospital bed. A doctor did various tests but couldn't seem to find what caused the sudden fever. "A fever can sometimes be caused by exhaustion, but usually one this high is a symptom of a virus or bacterial infection. His blood test shows no signs of disease. Everything appears perfectly normal as far as we can tell." he explained, sounding a bit confused at the strangeness of the situation.

"Normal?! Something has to be wrong! He has a fever and you should have seen him this morning! You should check again!" Alfie demanded in agitation, standing up. Trudy put a hand on Alfie's arm and gave him a steady look, tugging gently to get him to sit down. Alfie reluctantly did so, but was still looking at the doctor with his arms folded across his chest.

The doctor was about to say something else when the heart monitor started beeping like crazy. Alarmed, he whirled around to check on his patient, Alfie and Trudy both jumping up and rushing to the bed.

Jerome was semi-conscious but unaware of his actions as his heart raced and his legs kicked out, trying to get the suffocating blanket off. The doctor tried putting a hand on his arm to settle him down, but he lashed out and hit him in the chest.

"Jerome! Jerome! What's happening?!" Alfie yelled hysterically at the doctor as Trudy helped the doctor restrain the struggling teen.

"His high temperature is probably making him delirious. We have to try to calm him down and then we can give him some more medicine to help break the fever." the doctor replied much more calmly than Alfie.

At that moment, John and Poppy came rushing in. They had come as fast as they could when they got the text from Mara. Poppy looked fearfully at her brother and buried her head on Alfie's shoulder. Alfie took a few deep breaths and patted Poppy's back as they stood back and watched the adults take care of Jerome. John went by his son's side and placed a warm hand on his shoulder. "Son, no one is hurting you. This is the fever talking. Just relax and try to sleep. You'll need it to get your strength back. The doctors know what they're doing so they'll make you better in no time." he said to him.

After a few more moments, Jerome finally settled down as his fearful eyes locked on his father and then flicked to Poppy. He stopped thrashing about but pulled away from everyone's hands and curled up on the bed. He eventually fell into a more peaceful sleep after taking some of the medicine the doctor convinced him to take.

Trudy sighed in relief before approaching Alfie and Poppy and pulling them both into a hug. "Oh my sweets, let's let Jerome rest for a while and we can come back in a little while with your friends. How does that sound?" she offered, her voice shaky after that frightening incident. She hated to see any of the children she cared for suffer like that. Poppy had tears in her eyes but she slowly nodded.

Alfie agreed after some reluctance and the three of them left the room, the doctor having a brief conversation with John before leaving the man to watch over his son.

The hours passed slowly after that. School let out and the others came and visited, Amber leaving a bouquet of flowers on the table next to Jerome's bed, all of them giving their condolences and words of encouragement to the Clarke family. They all agreed that they would hold a belated birthday celebration for Jerome as soon as he was better and got out of the hospital. Despite fierce protests, Poppy was sent back to her mom's house while John stayed with Jerome. He talked with Mara, who had decided to stay until the evening when she had to go back to the house.

Day turned to night and everyone except Jerome's father had left back to Anubis house for the evening, Mara planting a light kiss on Jerome's cheek before walking out.

Jerome wasn't aware that his friends had visited as he was sleeping deeply, locked in a strange dream.

_Jerome was floating in a void of white light, quite a contrast from his last dream. He squinted as the light grew almost blinding, seeming to originate from the figure he could just make out the outline of as it hovered across from him._

_"The power has been accepted, the change complete. Let it flow and recover your strength young savior. This trial is over, but many more will come. The sun and moon will be your guides. Defeat the Chaos that soon will rise. Seek the treasures of Order to combat your foes to stop the shadows from spreading across the globe." a strong, powerful voice spoke in his mind, both frightening in the intensity and somehow comforting at the same time._

He woke up with a start, feeling more lucid than he had since that first dream. He saw his dad kneeling on the ground by his bed, asleep with his head on his arms. He couldn't help but smile at the thought that he finally had a parent who cared enough to visit him when he was sick.

He mulled over the words in the dream as he settled back on his pillow. He didn't know what they meant, but one thing he could tell for certain is that things wouldn't be the same for him after this day.

**So, there's a little glimpse of what's coming. I just had to have a little drama in there to liven things up a bit so that this wasn't too boring. He'll be recovering next chapter and then it'll be time for a late birthday celebration! After that, the new adventure begins for him and the Sibuna gang. It's going to get much more exciting in the chapters to come, but this had to come first before I got to that. I guess the first two chapters can kind of be considered a prologue.**

**Review and I will try to have the next chapter up by tomorrow.**


	3. House of Recovery & House of Birthdays

**Author's Note: Here's the chapter I mentioned at the end of the last one. Not sure why I have these author's notes but oh well.**

Jerome wanted nothing more than to get better so he could go home to his friends. He wasn't sure what the voice in his dream had meant about "letting the power flow", but it had said he would recover his strength, so he stopped thinking about it and let his body do what it needed to do.

Unbeknownst to him at the time, he didn't simply fall into another deep sleep but actually went into a short coma.

In the morning his father woke up to find him like that, unable to wake him however hard he tried. He called the doctor in and pleaded for him to do something.

"It seems he's gone into a comatose state. His vitals are all normal other than his temperature, which actually has gone down a degree or so. All we can do is keep him under observation, but I believe this may just be his body's way of fighting off whatever caused him to get sick. There is a good chance that he will wake up on his own when he's recovered enough." the doctor explained patiently.

John didn't look fully convinced, deeply worried for his son, but nodded and took a few deep breaths. He had to stay positive. Jerome wasn't getting any worse so maybe it really was just a step towards full recovery.

He decided it was best not to worry Jerome's friends with this unless it was absolutely necessary. However, he had promised Poppy that he would pick her up from school and take her to the hospital if there was any change.

* * *

Jerome had more dreams, but they were too fragmented to really understand, so he figured they weren't of too much importance. It was a few hours later when he finally awoke, blinking open his eyes to find Poppy holding onto his hand and crying into his sheets, his dad nowhere to be found.

"Poopy, you're getting the bed all wet." he teasingly complained.

Poppy looked up with a start, smiling widely. "Gerbil! You're awake!" she exclaimed, wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug.

Jerome patted her back and chuckled softly. "You can't get rid of me that easily." he replied.

Poppy laughed and slapped his arm playfully, then ran out of the room to get their dad, who had went to get her a snack.

They returned a few minutes later, John smiling in relief when he saw that his son had pulled out of the coma. "Jerome I'm so glad to see you're back with us again." he said sincerely, walking over to the bed and sitting in the chair beside it.

Jerome smiled back but then looked away, not used to all of this sentimental family stuff. He was saved from having to respond by the doctor coming in again, having heard that he had come out of his coma.

After checking him out again, the doctor turned to John. "There's good news. Your son's temperature has started going down and as far as I can tell, he's well on his way to a full recovery." he assured him.

Everyone looked ecstatic at that news. "So does that mean I can go home?" Jerome asked hopefully, though he was still feeling a bit groggy.

"I'm sorry, but not just yet. We should wait for the fever to break completely just in case. We'll keep you here the rest of the day for observation, but if everything is normal and nothing else happens by this evening, we'll let you leave." the doctor told him kindly.

Jerome groaned but nodded and reluctantly resigned himself to passing the hours until his friends could visit by talking to his family or watching random things on the TV.

After a few hours he said his goodbyes to his dad and Poppy as Poppy had to get back home and his dad had a lot of things to take care of, presumably like trying to find someone who would hire an ex-convict. He waved to them as they walked out and then called the doctor in to see about getting him something to eat.

**Later that afternoon….**

School finally let out and Jerome had just finished eating his second rather unappealing hospital meal when all his friends came rushing in, ignoring the protests of his doctor.

"Buddy, how are you feeling?" Alfie asked, grinning from ear to ear now that his best friend was starting to look more like himself again.

Jerome shrugged. "Still feverish but not bad. The hospital food is nasty though. I mean really… they're supposed to be helping me get better, not giving me food poisoning." he replied snarkily.

Alfie laughed and clapped him on the shoulder, the others were all smiling and Patricia commented "Yep, he's back."

Everyone chuckled and Jerome gave Patricia a look of mock surprise. "I'm touched Trixie, really. I didn't know you cared that much." he teased.

Patricia rolled her eyes, but her lips twitched into a small smile.

"You sure had us worried there for a while." Fabian said.

Alfie and Amber both nodded vigorously in agreement.

"I was worried myself. Not sure what happened, but let's look at the positive shall we? I'm getting better, that's what matters." Jerome replied quickly, uncomfortable with all the sappiness going around. Plus, there was still the matter of his dreams and the things those voices had been saying to him. He knew there was more going on than they all thought, but he decided not to tell any of them about that stuff for now. He would try to work it out for himself first. They would probably find out on their own eventually anyway if the past two terms were any indication.

Mara stepped up to his bed, looking a bit sheepish but was secretly overjoyed about his recovery.

Nina noticed Mara's expression. "Well, it's really good to see that you're doing better Jerome. I know we're all looking forward to you coming back to the house. It wasn't the same without you. Everyone, why don't we go and get everything ready for that thing we had planned." she said to the whole room, giving them meaningful looks.

Amber eyes lit up as she caught on to Nina's meaning. "Oh yeah! We have so much to do. Come along all, I can't do everything myself." she announced, winking at Mara before strolling out of the room with the others like a princess being followed by her royal subjects.

Mara watched them go in amusement, then sat down in the seat by Jerome's bed. She hesitated for a moment but then grinned and pulled him into a big hug.

Jerome hugged her back, then pulled away a bit to look her in the eyes. He grabbed her hand and pulled her onto the bed next to him, where they just sat and stared at each other fondly for a while, then talked about how Mara's day had gone.

"I was so worried Jerome." Mara murmured.

"I know. Sorry you had to feel that way." he said sincerely.

Mara shook her head. "Don't apologize, you were the one who was sick." she responded.

Jerome just ruffled her hair affectionately and they wiled the rest of the afternoon away in each other's company.

* * *

Jerome was finally released from the hospital that evening after the doctor announced that his fever was officially gone and gave him a clean bill of health, though he called Trudy and told her to keep an eye on him to make sure there was no relapse.

He couldn't get out of there soon enough. He grabbed Mara's hand and together they ran back to Anubis house. They entered the house to much cheering and wolf whistling from all their friends. Mara squeezed his hand before leaving his side to stand with the others. "Happy Belated Birthday Jerome!" they all shouted.

Jerome laughed as Amber and Alfie dumped confetti all over him from the top of the stairs.

They all headed into the living room, where Trudy was just finishing setting up their dinner. She pulled Jerome into a tight hug, tearing up a bit as she pulled away. "I have a whole fresh batch of chocolate chip pancakes waiting in the oven. You guys celebrate and I'll go get them." she said cheerily, walking into the kitchen.

Jerome noticed the room had been decorated with balloons and a huge banner they had made on his birthday that now said belated on it, courtesy of Patricia. There were also eight presents on the table, one from each of his friends.

They sat around the table and talked and laughed together. Trudy brought in their dinner and set an extra big helping of her chocolate chip pancakes in front of Jerome, much to his delight. "Oh thank you Trudy! You have no idea how much I've been waiting to eat something that can actually be considered food!" he proclaimed before digging in hungrily, the others all laughing, including Trudy.

After dinner was over, Alfie announced it was time for cake. "Trudy made it of course, but I had a lot of input on the design." he said with a mischievous grin.

"I helped with the frosting!" Amber added.

Jerome raised an eyebrow and smirked as Trudy brought out a cake that looked like a zombie head. He shook his head and chuckled. "Nice. Well, let's dig in then. We wouldn't want this unique creation to go to waste." he said. They lit the sixteen candles on the cake and Trudy told Jerome to make a wish.

He wished that if there was to be a crazy new adventure, everything would work itself out and they would all get out of it unharmed. Then he blew out the candles and they all enjoyed the cake, despite its moldy gray-green exterior.

"IT'S PRESENT TIME!" Amber shouted gleefully after the zombie cake had been devoured.

Jerome and Alfie clapped. "Yes presents! What have you all gotten for me?" Jerome wondered, rubbing his hands together in anticipation. He always loved getting stuff that he didn't have to pay for.

"Mine first!" Amber said, handing him a very neatly wrapped package with shiny blue paper and a white ribbon. He opened it curiously and gave Amber a look of fond exasperation when it turned out to be two t-shirts, one for him and one obviously for Mara, both blue that said Team Jara across the front in big silver letters. Mara blushed profusely and Jerome rolled his eyes. "Thank you Amber. They're… lovely." Jerome said, trying to be polite.

Amber beamed at them sweetly. "I knew you'd love them." she said in her usual oblivious manner.

Fabian had gotten him a really neat Egyptian chess set with the pieces being of a few of the gods and goddesses. "I heard from Mara that you two liked playing chess and I thought the theme was appropriate." Fabian explained.

Jerome clasped hands with him and shook it in gratitude. "Thanks mate, I like it." He looked at his girlfriend. "Mara, me and you, later? We have to break this set in." he said slyly.

"Oh you're on." Mara replied, accepting his challenge.

Nina handed him an envelope that said "read in private" on the front. Jerome looked at her with a raised eyebrow and Mara and Joy exchanged confused looks. She smiled a bit. "It's sort of a collaborative present. You'll see when you read it." she said cryptically.

"Uh, thanks I think Nina. I'll take your word for it I guess." Jerome said slowly, looking at the letter curiously, not noticing the meaningful glance Nina shared with the Sibuna gang.

Patricia had gotten him a cool black leather jacket. Jerome put it on and Alfie said it helped with his bad boy image. Jerome shoved him and playfully told him to shut it.

Eddie got him a box set of the original three Star Wars movies. "Maybe you, Alfie, and I can have a movie marathon sometime." he said with a casual shrug like it was no big deal.

"Yeah sure, sounds fun." Jerome agreed.

Mara gave him a wrapped parcel which contained a copy of To Kill a Mockingbird, with a little message from her inside saying Happy Birthday and she was glad they were together. Despite what everyone thought, he actually had a lot in common with Mara, including their mutual love of chess and classic literature.

"Just kiss already." Amber huffed as Jerome and Mara just looked at each other shyly.

"Amber!" Mara scolded in embarrassment. Amber gave her an innocent 'what?' look and Jerome looked at Mara questioningly for a moment. Mara gave a tiny smile of consent and they shared a brief but sweet kiss while everyone cheered them on, with the exception of Patricia who made a gagging noise. That was her version of approval though.

Joy's present was a professional lock-picking kit. "You never know when it might come in handy around here." she said with a secretive smile.

Jerome looked at it thoughtfully. "That's true. Let's just hope Victor doesn't find out about it." he commented, slipping the small case into one of his new jacket's pockets.

Alfie bounced up and down excitedly. "Speaking of which… finally, last but certainly not least, is my gift to you!" he proclaimed dramatically.

Alfie handed Jerome a small box wrapped crudely in brown paper. Jerome opened Alfie's gift and looked up at him in a mixture of bemusement and confusion as he pulled out a pair of handcuffs and a tiny key.

Alfie grinned widely and held up a finger as a signal to wait a moment. It was almost 10:00 and like clockwork, Victor came stomping down the stairs and stood in the entrance hall to give his usual pin drop speech.

Alfie darted out of the living room and over to Victor. "Hey Victor, can I ask you something?" he began, giving him his best innocent expression.

"What do you want Lewis?" Victor growled, annoyed that the miscreant was disturbing his routine.

Alfie reached out and took Victor's hands in his own, smiling at Victor as the caretaker glared at him. "Oh Victor, I just wanted to let you know that I greatly admire your dedication towards making sure we get enough sleep each night. Making us go to bed at 10:00 every night… you really care don't you?" he said, pulling Victor's hand with his as he put a hand over his heart.

Victor just grunted in exasperation and tried to pull his hands away, but before he could do so Alfie had snapped the handcuffs around his wrists, stepping back as he twirled the small key in his fingers with an impish smirk.

"ALFIE LEWIS! I demand that you release these cuffs AT ONCE!" Victor yelled.

Alfie gasped dramatically. "Victor, you really shouldn't yell. How are you supposed to hear a pin drop over all that shouting?" he asked. Everyone watching tried but failed to stifle their chuckling at that.

Victor narrowed his eyes, rage flashing in their depths at the mockery. "LEWIS I HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF YOUR GAMES! GIVE ME THAT KEY!" he roared.

Alfie just laughed and ran off around the house, Victor chasing after him with his cuffed hands stretched out in front of him.

The Anubis residents all joined Alfie in laughing at Victor and even Trudy couldn't help the giggle that escaped her at Alfie's antics.

Jerome laughed loudly in amusement along with the others, wiping tears of glee from the corners of his eyes. He beamed at Mara and she smiled back as everyone exchanged high fives and cheered Alfie on.

In that moment Jerome decided that this was by far the best belated birthday ever.

**So what does everyone think? I had a lot of fun writing that last part :3. I hope it made you guys laugh as much as it did for me while I wrote it. Can you guys guess what Nina's present to Jerome was ;)? Next time, mysterious things will start happening at the House of Anubis and the new adventure will officially begin :D.**


	4. House of Initiation & House of Sleepwalk

**Author's Note: Let the fun begin! For everyone who guessed that Nina's present was an invite into Sibuna, you were right! Remember I mentioned in my first A/N that Jerome would be a Sibuna eventually. I knew you guys would get that one, but don't worry, I have plenty of surprises in store that won't be so easy to guess. Sorry for not updating yesterday, but generally I'll try to have a new chapter up each day. Onwards we go! For Sibuna!**

Eventually Alfie allowed Victor to have the key and was promptly punished for his antics by having to dust the whole house with a feather again the next day.

Now that the party was over, everyone went to their rooms to go to sleep for the night. It was Friday, so fortunately there was no school tomorrow but a very cranky Victor made them go to bed anyway.

Alfie passed out as soon as his head hit the pillow, but Jerome sat awake on his bed and used the moonlight shining in through their window to examine Nina's letter.

He tore open the envelope and pulled out the folded paper inside. The note said 'You're hereby officially invited to become a true member of Sibuna. Meet us in the clearing in the woods at noon tomorrow for the initiation. Bring something valuable to you that you're willing to part with. Happy Belated Birthday! ~Nina.'

Jerome smiled, thinking it was about time they let him join them. They should know by now he would get himself involved in the end anyway. He put the letter in his bedside drawer and locked it, then lied down and fell into a more peaceful sleep than he had had in a while.

**The next day…**

The morning came and went in a relatively uneventful fashion other than Alfie's complaints about 'teen abuse' after finishing dusting the house with a feather, or most of it anyway. Now it was almost noon and Jerome was searching for something in his room that would be sufficient for the Sibuna ritual.

Alfie was watching and grinning excitedly. "Lewis and Clarke, going on grand adventures together once again. I think I'm going to cry." Alfie joked.

Jerome rolled his eyes but couldn't help smiling in amusement. "Yes Alfred, it's been far too long. Now I can check 'join an Egyptian treasure hunting cult with my best friend' off my bucket list." he replied.

Alfie pouted. "It's not a cult…" he said in Sibuna's defense.

Jerome gave him a look with one eyebrow raised. "You have an initiation ritual and once you get pulled in you can't get out again with all the stuff that starts happening around you." he pointed out, though his tone was amused rather than accusing.

Alfie raised his hands in surrender. "Yeah alright, it kind of is." he consented. He beamed at him. "There's never a dull moment though is there?"

Jerome chuckled. "That's true my good pal. There's never a shortage danger and excitement around here." he agreed.

He picked up a recent photo of him, his dad, and Poppy at an ice cream parlor (Poppy's idea). He had kept it because it was the first thing they had done together as a family and that meant a lot to him. He sighed as he came to the decision to use it as his 'sacrifice'. He would still have the memory and perhaps he could find a way to get another copy of the picture without his dad or Poppy realizing what he had done with the first one. He had a feeling Poppy wouldn't appreciate that much.

Alfie patted his shoulder and then bounced up and down. "Alright, let's go! We have to hurry if we want to make it there in time!" he exclaimed, dashing out of the room.

Jerome shook his head and followed quickly after him.

"No running you two!" Victor snapped at them as they passed him on their way to the door.

"Sorry Victor…" they murmured in unison as they made their way outside and shut the door behind them before the caretaker could ask what they were up to.

Once the two of them reached the clearing, they saw Nina, Fabian, Amber and Patricia already waiting there, a barrel in the center with a fire burning inside.

"About time." Patricia muttered, receiving a hard nudge from Fabian.

"It only just turned noon!" Alfie protested.

Nina gave everyone a stern look that said to be quiet before turning to Jerome. "Alright, first thing's first. Drop the picture in the fire." she said.

Jerome hesitated only briefly before he released the picture and watched it fall into the flames.

Amber held up her right hand. "Now repeat after me. I, Jerome Clarke, promise to protect the treasures of Anubis house and all its secrets." she commanded.

Jerome for once was serious as he repeated what Amber had said. He knew from his dream visions that something big was about to go down again and this was no time for joking around. "Is that it?" he asked.

"Yep that's it. You're now an official Sibuna. Congrats mate." Fabian said.

"Oh joy." Patricia said sarcastically, but in a teasing way. She had agreed as much as the others to let him in, albeit taking a bit longer.

Alfie held up his hand for a high five and Jerome complied before they gave each other a quick one armed hug, both glad to have something else they could share as friends, especially something as cool as this.

"Aww isn't that sweet. Enough with the bromance. Let's get out of here." Patricia suggested as she gave them a look of mock disgust.

Jerome gave her a sly grin. "You're just jealous." he said as he pulled Patricia into a hug. She squealed indignantly and everyone laughed as Jerome let go and Patricia pretended to barf.

"Yeah, we can go now. But first…" Nina said, giving everyone meaningful looks. She put her right hand over her eye. "Sibuna."

Everyone, including Jerome, copied her. "Sibuna." they said in unison.

* * *

Night had fallen once more and it was just past 10:00, so everyone had gone to sleep.

As soon as he had fallen asleep, Jerome found himself having another dream. _He was walking through Anubis house, heading straight for the front door like he was going out somewhere even though it was dark out. "Find it… find it… the full moon lights the way… the power within… open the door hidden under the falcon's watchful eye… find it…" a voice whispered in his mind. He reached out a hand to open the door… _

Jerome wasn't aware of it, but this was no ordinary dream. Alfie rolled over in his bed and blinked open his eyes as he heard their bedroom door creak open. He could just make out Jerome's tall figure in the dark as he walked slowly and silently out of the room.

"Jerome…? Where are you going?" he asked in confusion. He received no answer and Jerome didn't even pause. Alfie frowned but decided it was probably nothing. He yawned and pulled back his cover, getting to his feet and following, curious as to what he was up to now. It was a good thing it wasn't that late and he hadn't been in a deep sleep yet.

He caught up to Jerome, putting a hand on his shoulder from behind to stop him. "Jerome, what are you doing? We don't want Victor to catch us sneaking around after curfew and there's nothing Sibuna related going on right now. You're just going to use the restroom right?" he asked hopefully.

Jerome brushed Alfie's hand off and kept walking towards the door. "Don't interfere…." he murmured.

Alfie furrowed his brows and ran ahead of him, turning around to face Jerome and stopping in front of him to block him from continuing down the hall. He noticed that Jerome was staring blankly ahead and looking straight through Alfie like he wasn't there. "Are you… sleepwalking?" Alfie asked hesitantly.

Jerome only pushed Alfie gently out of the way, then kept moving and opened the front door. He paused briefly then like he was listening to something, his gaze locked on the full moon shining in the night sky outside. Then he moved out of the house and shut the door softly behind him.

Alfie bolted to Fabian's room first and entered without knocking, shaking Fabian roughly.

"Alfie.. wha- what are you doing in here? Why are you waking me up?" Fabian muttered sleepily.

"I'll explain as soon as we get the others! Come on!" he replied urgently. Eddie had also woken up at the noise, and watched them go in confusion, but just shrugged and went back to sleep.

Alfie and Fabian ran quietly upstairs so as not to wake Victor and split up to wake the girls. A few minutes later, the five Sibunas were gathered in the hall.

"This better be good Alfie. A girl needs her beauty sleep." Amber said.

"Alfie, we're all listening. Now just tell us what's happened." Nina suggested calmly.

"I'm not sure it's anything to worry about, but… I just saw Jerome sneaking out. I went to confront him about it, but I don't think he's even awake. I think he's sleepwalking…" Alfie explained.

Patricia rolled her eyes. "You woke us up to tell us that Jerome has sleeping issues? People sleepwalk sometimes." she groaned, just wanting to go back to bed.

Fabian frowned. "Yeah, when they're kids. It's really unusual for teenagers to do it. Besides… with everything we've been through, we can't assume that it's nothing. I say we follow to see where Jerome is going. If he is sleepwalking then he isn't aware of his actions. He could get hurt." he pointed out.

They exchanged looks and then all ran down the stairs and headed outside. With the moon casting its silvery glow across the sweeping lawns they could see Jerome strolling down what appeared to be the path to the library.

"Why is he heading that way?" Alfie wondered.

"Ssh, we have to be quiet Alfie. Let's watch and find out." Nina whispered.

The Sibuna gang silently sneaked along behind Jerome, near enough that they could keep him in sight, but staying far enough back that he wouldn't hear them following him.

Jerome approached the Frobisher library's door and pulled out his lock-picking kit. As if there was a hand guiding him, he picked out one of the picks and quickly picked the lock like he had been doing this for years. He was pretty good at it even awake, but normally he wouldn't have been able to just open the door like that without studying the knob and his new kit for a while first. Of course, these weren't normal circumstances and he wasn't quite himself at the moment. It was like he was on autopilot.

"I think things just got serious. There's only one reason he would be going to the library in the middle of the night." Fabian said.

"This has Sibuna written all over it." Amber agreed.

**Yep, sorry for the delay. I had a lot of things on my plate, but I'm hoping to get back to regular updates again now. I already sort of have the next chapter planned in my mind. So, what exactly is Jerome up to sneaking into the library? Why is his most recent dream causing him to sleepwalk? Where is the voice guiding him? The answers when this story continues next chapter. Please review and I'll try to have a new update for you tomorrow. Hope you guys liked it :). **


	5. House of Prophecy

**Oh my, it's been a while already hasn't it? I can't believe how fast time flies sometimes. Hmm… anyway, sorry about that but it's bound to happen occasionally. It isn't because I'm tired of this story or anything. Alright, well, here is the next long awaited chapter so I hope you enjoy.**

Jerome strolled into the library and under the compulsion of his vision began to search for something. In his mind the voices whispered to him what he would later know to be the first part of a prophecy. _"The first piece of the puzzle awaits inside, then hold it to the falcon's eye. Allow the power of the moon to flow and the door will be revealed by its pale glow. Descend the steps to the earth's beating heart, with essential allies you then must part. One path must be walked alone, only with truth and wisdom can Night's prize be won. Unite with friends once more and seek the treasure of the rising sun, find it before the week is done."_

The rest of the Sibunas crept inside after Jerome, watching him carefully from the safety of their hiding spot as he continued pulling books off the shelves, looking within and then putting them back. Then he headed over to an old antique desk sitting in the corner of the room.

"This isn't like any sleepwalking I've ever seen." Alfie murmured.

"That's true it isn't. Let's wait a bit longer, then we can try to wake Jerome up again." Fabian replied in a hushed whisper.

"Yeah, I bet he knows something about what's happening that he isn't telling us." Patricia said in slight suspicion.

Alfie frowned at her. "Jerome is one of us now and as a Sibuna and my best friend, he wouldn't keep secrets from us. He probably just hasn't had the chance to tell us, what with the fever, the coma… now this." he retorted defensively.

"This is Jerome we're talking about." Patricia pointed out sarcastically. She huffed. "What if he's just pretending to be sleepwalking? He seems to be pretty aware of what he's doing to me." she muttered.

Before Alfie could argue back, Nina shot them both a sharp look. "Guys, now is not the time to argue." she said sternly.

"Ooh, look, what is that Jerome's holding?" Amber piped up.

The others all stopped talking and turned to where Amber was pointing. While they had been arguing, Jerome had found a small mahogany box tucked in an old desk drawer. He had opened it and was now holding up an oval opaque white stone, the milky white color seeming to shimmer slightly as he stroked it with his thumb.

Fabian tilted his head to the side, looking at it closely. "It looks like a moonstone." he told them, sounding as confused as the rest of them.

Jerome set the box down but kept the stone clutched in his hand as headed right towards the secret entrance to the tunnels.

"Why is he going to the tunnels? The Cup and the Mask are in there!" Patricia hissed.

Nina shook her head. "I don't know. We don't have to worry though. He doesn't know where we hid them and the Cup and the Mask can't be used right now anyway." she replied.

The bookshelf swung out and revealed the passage leading to the second to last chamber before where the Mask had been, the room where they had made the constellation out of reflectors.

The Sibunas exchanged glances as they quickly got up and followed Jerome as he walked into the tunnel, the bookshelf swinging closed behind them.

Once in the room, Jerome felt himself guided to the wall with the zodiac and the sun and moon gears that had acted as the countdown to the constellation task. Ignoring these, he stepped up to a blank stretch of wall next to it and rested his hand against the smooth dark stone.

Everyone watched with wide eyes as a blazing silver falcon appeared on the wall under his touch. He lifted the moonstone and placed it in the indentation where the eye would be. Closing his eyes, he was enveloped in a soft silvery white glow that suddenly pulsed brighter as the light flowed down his arm and into the moonstone. The stone glowed brilliantly with the power and the outline of a door appeared where none had been before.

"What's happening? Why is Jerome glowing? How is he doing that?" Alfie asked frantically as they all peeked from behind the tunnel doorway into the room.

Nina and Fabian both waved at him to be quiet but looked equally as shocked. The whole room began to shake and then with the loud groan of sliding stone, the glowing section of the wall sunk into the floor, revealing a hidden space behind it.

The glow around Jerome dissipated and he stumbled slightly as he broke from the half-asleep trance-like state he had been in, full awakening and leaning against the newly formed doorway a bit unsteadily.

"Jerome!" Alfie called, running to his friend and offered a supporting arm. Jerome used Alfie's offered arm to steady himself as he carefully pushed away from the wall, regaining his balance and wiping the sleep from his eyes before letting go. He looked around in confusion, his eyes slightly fearful. "W-what am I doing in the tunnels? How did I even get here?" he asked as he noticed the rest of the Sibuna gang were now standing around him and Alfie and looking at him questioningly.

"That's what we want to know." Patricia said with her arms folded across her chest.

Jerome held up his hands. "I had no clue about any of this I swear! I'm as confused as you guys! One minute I was going to sleep, then I was having this weird dream… and then I woke up here." he explained.

"What dream?" Nina asked curiously.

Jerome was about to answer when Amber spoke up again, once more pulling their attention to the more urgent matter. "Uh, guys, you might want to see this." she said.

They all turned to see Amber standing in the doorway of the new room Jerome had somehow opened. They peered in with her and all looked stunned to see that inside, a spiraling stone staircase with no railing jutted out from the smooth cylindrical chamber and went down into a seemingly endless black void.

Jerome picked up a small pebble laying on the ground and tossed it into the pit, where it bounced and clanked out of sight, the sound echoing back up to them, growing fainter and fainter as it fell into the darkness. They couldn't even here it hit the ground, if there was any.

"That is a long way down." Alfie murmured in mixed fear and awe.

"Where does it go?" Amber wondered.

"To the earth's beating heart." Jerome replied softly without thinking.

"The what? Jerome what are you talking about?" Fabian asked as they all looked back at him.

Jerome looked at them all sheepishly. "I was going to tell you all… it's just as I said before, I had this weird dream, but it wasn't actually the first one I've had. It all started right before I got sick. I don't know what any of it means though." he told them with a sigh.

Patricia raised an eyebrow. "So you don't know how you were suddenly glowing and managed to open up a new chamber in these tunnels that we didn't even know existed?" she asked scathingly.

Jerome gave a quiet nervous chuckle, looking completely confused now. "I was glowing? What are you talking about Trixie?"

Fabian gave Patricia a glare to stop being rude as Nina looked at Jerome thoughtfully.

"How about you explain these dreams to us and we can all figure out what's happening together?" she suggested reasonably.

Jerome exchanged a glance with Alfie, who shrugged and nodded, and Jerome gestured for them all to sit down. Once they were seated in a circle on the floor, Jerome ran a hand through his hair and thought about how to begin telling them what little he knew.

"Alright, the first dream started like this…"

**IMPORTANT NOTE: There will be a second half to this chapter, but I am still currently working on it. In a little while check back on this chapter and look for a page break. Under that will be a new section for you to read. It will not be updated as a separate chapter. I just wanted to give you something to read as an apology for it having been so long. **


End file.
